Chapter 337

~~ Trinity ~~ When we arrived at the Fae compound I saw that there was a large entourage waiting for us. We had only pulled up to the gate but they were already treating this like an official royal event. I think it was good that I took Casey's advice and started treating this like something important. There was at least one man that I recognized at the gate. It was Breon, the leader of the envoy that had come to my wedding. He had, apparently, lessened his anger about Casey and Cedar's mating since then but it wasn't completely gone. Nevertheless, he was at least acting diplomatic and proper at the current moment. Vincent was sitting next to the window that Breon approached so he lowered it slightly and allowed Breon to look in and see me. "Good day to you, Queen Trinity. It is lovely to see you again. We have been looking forward to your visit. If you and your retainers would kindly follow us to the garage we will get you inside and settled in." "Thank you, Breon. That would be much appreciated." I did my best to sound proper when I responded to him. I must have succeeded because he gave me a smile and an approving nod. Breon went to the passenger seat of a large black golf cart. Or at least that's what it looked like. There was another man in the driver's seat and a group of others standing around. The man in the golf cart began to drive at a slow and steady pace. This pace allowed those that were on foot to walk at a fast yet comfortable pace as they moved with us. This entire process was a little strange to me so I had to ask Casey what was up. "Acacia, are those armed guards? Do they think that I am a threat?" "They are guards, yes, but they're for your protection. Queen Gloriana is treating you with the respect that you deserve. She does not wish for you to come to any harm while you are here. If there were to be a danger to you while you are here the responsibility and burden for that would fall onto her shoulders." "Do you or the queen expect that there is a danger to Trinity while we are here?" Vincent had switched into his serious mode when he saw the armed guards that had surrounded our small caravan of vehicles. "Not at all. This is something that Queen Gloriana has always done for high ranking allies. She is showing you that she both accepts and respects your position. This is actually a very high honor." "Really?" I was still at a loss and trying to figure out my response. Before I could come to a reasonable reaction, though, we had made it to the garage that was attached to the castle. To break the confusion in my mind I made a joke to myself. It was just something stupid about when they might have added a garage for cars like this and what they might have kept here before hand. Horses, donkeys, giant butterflies, you know, stupid shit that would make me cringe if one of the Fae had actually heard what it was I was thinking. Most of the armed guards remained outside of the garage. They had positioned themselves so that they were completely blocking the door from view until it was closed. Only two of the guards had come into the actual building and they were now standing behind Breon as he got out of the golf cart. I watched as my four guards that were in the SUVs started to exit the vehicles. I was supposed to wait until they came and opened the doors of the Limo and Cedar and Vincent had exited. As the queen in this situation I was to wait in the vehicle and be the last one to leave. That was a little annoying, but I understood it. Reece usually opened my door for me, as did Vincent, so I was usually the last one out when I went somewhere anyway. I watched through the windows as the planned movements were executed perfectly. David and Thoma got out of their SUV at the exact same time that Izzy and Shane got out of theirs. Shane and Izzy walked to the driver's side of the Limo and opened the door while David and Thoma were on the passenger side doing the same. Cedar exited through the driver's side and then helped Casey to her feet as she exited the limo. Vincent left the passenger side at the same time as Cedar. Behind Vincent, Gabriel was the next to leave through the passenger side of the limo. Reece followed after Gabriel and I watched as he straightened his suit briefly. As soon as he once again looked perfectly dreamy and mouth wateringly delicious Reece turned to hold his hand out for me. I was glad it was him helping me out of the limo since I needed someone to help pull me to my feet. Reece used his grip on my hand and pulled while seamlessly sliding an arm around my waist and pulling me toward him. "Just relax and take it one step at a time." His voice was quiet and calm as he spoke to me softly. The words did their job, they calmed me down and helped me to put on a perfectly beautiful and regal smile. I saw that Breon and the armed guards were kneeling in front of me as were two other Fae that looked like servants of some sort. Their left legs were bent with the foot on the floor and their right knees were pressed against the floor. They also had their right arm bent so that their open hand was across their hearts. Their left arm was resting on their left thigh, hand in a fist. The entire kneeling scene was too much, but I couldn't say anything about it so I just looked at them calmly. "Welcome to the land of the Fae, Queen Trinity. We are honored by your visit." Breon spoke first only to be followed by the others as they spoke in perfect unison. "Welcome Queen Trinity, we are honored to see you." "Thank you Breon, thank you everyone. I appreciate your warm welcome." I nodded my head once in their direction as a way of showing that I accepted their words and their welcome. "Please rise." They did as I asked and rose smoothly and fluidly in one quick motion. I could see that these men before us were used to dealing with people that they considered important. I also felt good knowing that I counted among them. "Queen Trinity." A man I didn't know spoke from behind Breon. "My name is Herrod, please allow me and my men to assist you during your visit." He bowed his head just a little with a smile on his face. He was a shorter man, maybe five foot seven. He was the only man present that didn't make me feel too short. He had hair that was almost like a pastel rainbow, but it was just yellow, green, and blue. His eyes were a soft shade of orange and he looked more childlike than the others, however he seemed to be in charge of them. "Thank you Herrod." "It is my pleasure, Queen Trinity. Allow me to introduce those who will be assisting you. This here is Cilian, an archer with many talents. Here we have Fabian, an officer who doubles as a steward. Dirk, a soldier that is especially skilled in hand to hand combat. And I am the captain of the Queen's guards. Please let us know if there is anything that you need." Cilian was very tall and had hair that was yellow, orange and red like the setting sun that was long and pulled back into a knot at the back of his head and his eyes were a bright yellow. Fabian looked the most burly of them all, he was shorter than Cilian but still tall with big muscles and hair that looked like different fallen leaves in the middle of autumn, the colors perfectly matched his brown eyes. Dirk was just over six feet tall with short silver hair and black eyes. "We appreciate that." Reece nodded to him. "As you might have guessed, we brought our own guards as well, to protect my wife." "Yes, King Reece, that is very understandable. We would expect nothing else." "Herrod, can you take me to see Queen Gloriana now?" "Most definitely. Please follow us. Herrod turned to face the men that were behind him. With a gesture he had them moving into a formation that had one of them on each side of our group. Breon stood in the front with Herrod and the two of them together led the way through the halls and into the Fae castle.